Free for Life
by hsm07
Summary: Mistakes happen. Regrets are a part of life. But what if their past dreams take over and they feel as if they were in high school again? Sometimes a little reminder is all a person needs to get their life back on track.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this just popped into my head, and originally it was going to be a one-shot, but now after only writing like a third of it, I realize that it has to be a three-shot or two-shot. Now, I don't know if anyone's done this idea yet, but I think this little story swirling around my head is original. I guess it's like a belated holiday gift as I just find it fun writing and I've been writing many high school stories, but in this story Troy and Gabriella are both out of college. I guess it's something different. Alls I really know is that when I was listening to Uncle Kracker's song _Follow Me_, this story just popped into my head.**

**Another thing, Kyle Bar in this story is my made up character, but when I wrote about him, I pictured Milo Ventimiglia playing his role. If you don't know who he is he was on Gilmore Girls as Jess. Or he is on Heros, but I don't know what his character's name is called. **

**I hope you guys enjoy. I've never really written a three-shot before, so wish me luck and let me know what you think in a review.**

* * *

Friends surrounded her as the dark lights of the club tried to shine through the thick atmosphere that was choking her. The blue neon lights lit up the bar that she was currently standing at with a pink tiara on her head. The heavy ring on her finger weighing her down as if she were cemented to a thousand pound cement block. She sighed even though no one could hear her.

Sharpay was on her right with Taylor on her left. Both were tipsy as they were trying to get Gabriella to go along with the plan of getting so drunk during her bachelorette party that she wouldn't remember it the next day. But Gabriella was planning something different.

"Come on Gabs. Cheer up." Sharpay slurred a little as the bartender handed them their drinks and the blonde started to lead the two brunettes to the table that could seat about twenty.

"She's right you know." Taylor advised as she had always been the more sensible of the three. "You're getting married in eight days. You should be bouncing off the walls more than us." Taylor referred to the ten other girls that attended Gabriella's wedding party who were now filtering out throughout the dance floor, the table, and bar.

Gabriella was marrying Kyle Bar of B and B industries. He was taking over his father's, Kyle Senior's, business when he retired within five years or so. It was a highly respected industry that Gabriella wanted nothing to do with, but of course she couldn't tell Kyle that because that was his future. He right now was working as his father's right hand man and was away on a three day business trip right before their wedding.

Gabriella shut her eyes in boring pain. She could still taste the mint toothpaste he used that morning to kiss her goodbye. His dark, almost black, hair on his head; not a strand out of place. His business suit pressed down to the very last wrinkle. His black shoes sending a gleam in her eye. He was handsome, there was no doubt about it as Gabriella had heard many of her friends comparing him to famous actors. But Gabriella wasn't in the two year relationship for his looks; although it didn't hurt that he was hot.

No, she wasn't just in the relationship for looks, but for the stability he offered her.

She was in it because she had a steady job working for one of the top newspapers, she had just moved into their new extravagant apartment that they probably didn't need, and now she wanted to start a family. Or at least that is what she told herself because that's what people do normally after finding a man who loves you and you get married. Now it was time for kids, even though she was only twenty six and she could wait a couple of years.

And then of course she was also in the relationship because she loved him. He just had this warming personality that spoke silently to her. He made sure that she was taken care of, and that she had anything she could possibly need. He loved her and was willing to spend every dime on her. She should be happy that her life was ready to go into motion and that she was going to have a new family instead of it just being her mom and her. It was a new chapter in her life, and she was excited.

Then why did she feel trapped?

"Gabs, you haven't touched your drink." Sharpay slurred out again as Kelsi had now joined them at the table.

Gabriella ripped the tiara off of her head. She stared down at it as she remembered cursing Sharpay earlier for making her wear it, but it seemed to just draw in more guys as they offered to do very unmentionable things with her; saying this was her last chance as a free women.

But she still had eight nights to be whoever she dreamed of being. She didn't need to be Gabriella Montez the writer for the LA Times. She didn't need to be the soon-to-be Mrs. Kyle Bar. She didn't need to be the woman who stands behinds her man who is voted to be the next top billionaire.

She could be whoever she wanted.

"I mean, if I had a guy like you, I would be set for life." Sharpay went on. "You have money. You both are fucking hot. And you guys probably have very, VERY hot sex." Sharpay wriggled her eye brows twice as Kelsi and Taylor choked on their drinks. Gabriella knew it was the truth, but it was all the same to her. It seemed as if it was the same routine over and over again.

Kyle would go away on business. He would return and they would go out to dinner, he would present to her an expensive piece of jewelry that he picked up for her--sometimes though it would be shoes or a purse--, and then they would go back to his place and fuck each other.

"Why not just kick off your heels and sit back and enjoy the ride? You're basically done after marriage. You pop a few kids out, make him happy, and then you're done. Go buy yourself a new purse for a celebratory gift." Sharpay made it seem to easy as Gabriella was just stuck on one sentence and one sentence only.

_You're basically done after marriage._

"What if I don't want to be done Shar? What if I want to explore the world? See things that I've only dreamed about?" Gabriella got a dreamy look in her eye.

Kelsi laid a gentle hand on top of Gabriella's. "Honey, we all want that. But other things just get in the way."

"Not if you just DO IT." Gabriella pointed out. "If you just hopped on a plane and took off to the first place that comes to your mind." Gabriella sighed happily as she got a giddy expression on her face. Her happiness was covering the slight terror on her face of being tied down to Kyle.

"Forget it Gabi. You have Kyle. He's like a ball and chain starting next week. Besides the fact that you won't be able to screw other guys, what more could you possible need? Sure you have money, power, a nice paying job, and a gorgeous apartment any girl would kill to have, but…what's the point in fighting it Gabi? You're happy right now, right?" Sharpay was drunk. There was no other way of explaining her ramblings.

"Yeah." Gabriella said softly; indicating just how much she was lying. Tears came to the brinks of her eyes at knowing deep down that she was basically selling her life away.

"That sounded depressing." Sharpay commented dryly as Taylor finally cut in.

"Okay, who's up for dancing?"

"Me!" Sharpay exclaimed with Kelsi who shocked them all since she was the one out of the group of four who hated dancing.

"Gabs?" Taylor asked pointedly. She knew that her best friend was on the edge of having a nervous break down. Anyone with eyes a mile away could tell that all hell was ready to break loose, but dancing was the only thing that came to Taylor's mind to distract Gabriella for a little while.

"I have to use the bathroom. I'll be right out." Gabriella was about to walk away before breaking into a quick run, but was stopped by her name being called out over the thunderous music pumping through the nighttime club. "Yeah Tay?"

"Don't forget your crown." She handed Gabriella the sparkling tiara as Gabriella forced a smile onto her face.

"No. I wouldn't want to forget this, would I?"

"I would hope not. I paid enough for it." Sharpay snorted ungraciously before going off with Kelsi and Taylor to the middle of the dance floor.

Gabriella's friends were great. They were helpful when planning the wedding when her mother couldn't come to LA for a weekend. They always kept her company whenever Kyle wasn't around. They went shopping with her when she was feeling the need to spend a paycheck. And they even supported her relationship with Kyle out of all the other failed relationships Gabriella had tried after her first real love had agreed with her that rainy night that their long distance relationship wasn't working out the way they had planned.

Her legs took her off in a fast sprint as she was a runner during high school. A soft perspiration broke out on her forehead. Her red dress that was tight on her chest, pushing up her cleavage just that little bit more, and flowed outward towards the bottom kicked upwards with every step she ran. She felt like she was a little kid again as she didn't need a taxi to get to her house.

Why need one when she felt free with just running?

* * *

Troy Bolton was many things. He was twenty-six. He was single as of two weeks prior. He lived in a house that was too big for one person due to his job as an up and coming favorite basketball player who was just starting out. He was ambitious. He ALWAYS got what he wanted; just not who he wanted as one person who changed his life would never come back to him. He was careless at times. He was confident. But most importantly, he was free. Free to do whatever he liked.

He didn't have many regrets in his short life. The main regret that haunted him everyday though was agreeing to break off his relationship with his girlfriend of four years. They had met Junior year when she transferred to East High and had hit if off ever since. That is until their college distances got the better of them and they had met up their third year of college over Christmas break and had decided that things weren't working out.

They had both loved each other. They both wanted each other. They both needed each other. Troy could still remember the break up sex that entailed their earth shattering departures. It was almost better than their first time together because that night they took things as slow as possible, and he memorized every freckle on her body. He memorized every sound she made. He memorized every look of passion that passed through Gabriella Montez's eye.

And it haunted him to no end.

Troy Bolton wasn't stupid. He had read the newspapers. Every morning consisted of him reading the latest big article Gabriella was assigned to write. He would always read it drinking his morning coffee. None of his other past girlfriends ever understood why the LA Times was so important to him when the Washington Post was just as good, if not better, but Troy would refuse their newspaper choices and skip to Gabriella's article first thing.

Six months earlier was one of the worst days as he nearly spit out his coffee in surprise. Staring right back at him was a guy named Kyle Bar and Gabriella who were holding each other blissfully; announcing their engagement. Troy remembered being in a bad mood that whole week until Chad talked some sense into him. At the time Troy was dating a gorgeous red head named Kate, and Troy was convinced that their relationship was going somewhere, but once he finally admitted to himself that he was indeed upset still about losing Gabriella, he knew it was time to cut Kate loose. It wasn't fair on her.

So when a nearly broken Gabriella Montez showed up at his house eight days before her wedding was supposed to happen; tears glistening in the moonlight at two a.m. in the morning, Troy was confused.

He hadn't seen her in person since their break up--five years earlier. He knew that they were living in the same city now. She had moved to LA two years previous, but they had both convinced themselves that they moved on. They didn't need to contact each other because they had nothing else to give one another.

They had given their hearts to each other at the end of Junior year of high school. They had lost their virginities with one another the last week of summer vacation before senior year. They had talked about marriage and what their wedding might be like light-years into the future at the end of graduation. But obviously their small wedding never happened as it was just teenage gibberish being thrown around back then.

Gabriella was throwing rocks at his window; something she would do in high school. The lights he had surrounding his house turned on when movement came into their sensors range.

"Brie!?" He whispered down to her as he propped open the window. He didn't know why he was whispering. He was a twenty-six year old who had neighbors that were only around during the summer seasons, and it most certainly was not summer time as the temperatures were dropping a little.

Gabriella sighed in relief as she wiped viciously at her eyes to clear them. She had one suitcase, and once suitcase only with her. It was sitting behind her standing self as if mocking Troy that it got to be touched by Gabriella's hands and he wasn't even allowed to speak to her after their stupid decision of breaking up.

"Thank God. Do you know how many windows your mansion has?!" She called up to him as if making small talk was appropriate for two ex-lovers who haven't seen each other for a very long time.

"God damn it Brie, what are YOU doing here?" He sounded angry to Gabriella as she cringed away in fright. Neither one noticing how Troy still used her nickname as if it were his second name.

"I had nowhere else to go!" She looked up at him wearing her red dress from the club that her friends were still at; not knowing that the soon-to-be bride was back at her ex-boyfriends home.

"How about your fiancés place? Or Taylor's place? Or Sharpay's place? Take a pick, because you have more places than most!"

"Troy please, I need to speak to you. You can't turn away from me. Not again." She whimpered as the tears finally leaked down her cheeks silently. The moon highlighting her figure perfectly as her almost black hair shined in streaks.

Troy shut his eyes painfully as he was never able to hurt Gabriella intentionally. Even if she was marrying another man and moving on. He ripped his eyes open and the intensity in them sent Gabriella almost stumbling backwards. "Just give me a second and I'll be down."

"Thank you." Gabriella whispered, but Troy didn't hear as he was already scrambling around his room to slide on a pair of light wash jeans and the first clean t-shirt he could find.

When he came down the stairs and started to walk through the living room to get to the front door, he stopped as a brown leather suit case was sitting next to his couch, and Gabriella's back was facing him as she was busy looking at the pictures his mom helped put up years before.

"Brie, how did you get in?" He asked in a raspy voice of surprise.

She turned around with a watery smile on her face. Her hands were fidgeting as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "You still keep the spare key in the blue flower pot."

Troy sighed tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Gabriella saw that he was still upset and continued rambling nervously. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know where else to go. I can't…I just…it's good to see you." She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his strong torso.

It took Troy a few seconds to realize that she was actually touching him. It took him even longer to wrap his own arms around her petite body to pull her closer. He rubbed his nose against her scalp, just taking in her scent as she made no move to get out of his arms.

"I need to ask you something Troy." Gabriella mumbled into his chest before she hiccupped from her tears that were clouding up in her eyes again. He pulled away from her, but still kept both of his hands on her waist.

"Did something happen Brie? Are you hurt?" His concern was still stronger than ever for her. Troy Bolton was many things. He may be tough and hard on others at times, but there were always exceptions to that. And Gabriella Montez was his exception as he had never been as gentle with a girl than he had with her.

She bit her lip as the color brown flashed before her eyes. Kyle's eyes lighting up her brain as she could swear she could smell his cologne haunting her. "Yes. There's something definitely wrong." She whispered. "But before you speak, I need to know if you remember Senior prom."

"_What?!_ You come to my house at two in the morning asking about Senior Prom that happened SO long ago?! Fuck Brie, is everything okay?" Her persisted as she pulled her head back away from his assaulting hands that wanted to keep touching her to make sure that she was really indeed standing in front of him.

"Do you Troy? Do you?!" She frantically asked as she looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind Troy. "We're running out of time. I NEED to know!"

"Yes!" He roared. "I remember all of it. I remember you wore a dark purple dress. I remember I actually had to wear a purple tie to match you. I remember dancing with you. I remember the hotel room you insisted we rent with the others just to make it seem as if we did all the right things for Prom." Troy admitted as his grip on her forearms tightened once he felt her trying to pull away. He was too greedy to let her go this easily after she barged right back into his life again. "I remember the way that you made me feel while we made love."

"Do you remember the morning?" Gabriella demanded. The old memories that could fill the whole universe were put into a cabinet in her brain, and it was in that place that they would stay until she left the country.

Troy's eye brows narrowed curiously as he thought back to his eighteen year old self. "Yes." He said slowly. "I remember everything."

"Good. Because I know it might seem crazy, and you probably weren't expecting this, but then again you are Troy Bolton and you could do whatever the hell you wanted, but are you in?" Gabriella asked suddenly as she was now gripping onto his forearms, her sharp nails cutting into his skin, but he could hardly feel the pain as her eyes were numbing him.

"In? Brie, you have to just slow down and tell me what's up. I promise I'll try to help." What he meant to say was that he would try to help as long as it had nothing to do with Kyle Bar and her wedding.

"Just say yes. You've never broken a promise to me before, and this is the last one that we have to follow through with and then you'll be done with me. I promise you won't ever hear from me again."

"What?" Troy hissed as he tried to keep his anger in check. "You're talking foreign here Brie. I have no idea what you're talking about."

She looked at him wildly. She shook his arms in desperation as more tears pooled in her eyes. "Troy!" She shrieked. "You said you remembered! You said!" She was panting as she continued. "You promised me that morning that sometime later in our lives we would just take off and go anyplace that we could think of. You said that we would've taken off that week, but your dad would have killed you for missing the championship game. This is the last promise that we have yet to complete, and Troy Bolton, I'm telling you now that the time is right. I'm taking off, and it's your choice to come with."

Troy stared at her as if she was crazy. He had done multiple things that could be considered bad ideas. Like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Drinking away his problems with Chad when Gabriella and him first broke up. Dating random girls who reminded him of Gabriella. It was like he set himself up time and time again until the real deal came. And right now, the real deal was standing in front of him, and he never thought in a million years that he would actually have to think about going with her.

"Brie, you're wedding…" He trailed off painfully as she held her hand up to his mouth to stop him from going any further.

"It's in eight days. I have eight days to live how I want. ME! Not anyone else, and I want to be free. I want that feeling to return one last time before I suffocate myself with my so called 'perfect' life." Gabriella exclaimed. "You either come with me to Panama, or stay here. But by God Troy, I really hope that you come. You've never broken a promise yet, and I would hate to see you start now."

She didn't care about his promises. She only cared about one thing and one thing only, and he was going to help her. He was going to bring her back into her old life again. A life where they would drink cheap beer, talk obnoxiously as if they owned the place at wherever they were staying at, and spend time together.

That was all she needed.

"Please?" She whispered.

"Did you say Panama?" He croaked out as slight excitement entered his veins. "As in Mexico?"

"Is there any other place called Panama?" Gabriella asked. She saw the smug look starting to cross over Troy's face, but before he could rebut, she beat him to it. "Don't answer that. Instead you can tell me your answer because I have two tickets and the flight is in two hours. We don't have much time to get to the airport."

"Okay."

"What?" Gabriella asked with wide eyes.

"Okay. Let's do it." Troy rushed out of the room with Gabriella hot on his trail.

"You really mean it? This isn't you trying to be funny and pranking me?" Gabriella asked as she followed him up to his room.

"Brie, I promised you this years ago. And like you said, the time is now." Troy opened his bedroom door and it was like a blast to the past for Gabriella as his bedroom was almost exactly like the one back in Albuquerque. "What will I need?"

"Money, your passport, drivers license, and a set of clothes."

"One pair of clothes?" Troy asked.

"Come on Bolton, don't wimp out on me now. We can buy clothes when we get down there. Along with the fifty cent beers, and twenty five cent beers during Happy Hour." Gabriella said with a smile that reached her eyes.

Troy chuckled, "You got that from Prison Break Brie."

"Who the fuck cares? Let's just go Troy before people realize we're gone."

"It's two thirty in the morning! Who's gonna realize we're gone?" Troy started throwing random clothes into a duffel bag. He stopped though once Gabriella fell silent, and he knew instantly that something was wrong. "Brie, answer me! Where were you before you started throwing rocks at my window?"

"My bachelorette party." She mumbled as Troy could see guilt pass through her eyes.

"You're bachelorette party." Troy repeated in a daze. Just saying those words and talking about the wedding was making it even more real that in eight days she will never be his again. "Fuck Brie. This is fucked up even more now!"

"Troy, we can still do this. Shar and Tay and Kelsi, they're all wasted. By the time they sober up tomorrow afternoon we'll be on a beach drinking that cheap beer that we used to live off of." Gabriella ran up to him and gripped his arm.

This was her escape route to live on the wild side one last time before marriage.

"Just think about it Troy." Gabriella pleaded. "I can't do this by myself now."

* * *

"So…how's life?" Gabriella asked for short conversation. They were now flying flawlessly through the air in first class. Sometimes it helped having a credit card with hardly any limit.

Troy glanced at her as he was now convinced that she was genuinely crazy. Part of him just wanted to be the Troy that she knew him to be. The Troy who didn't think twice about his actions. The Troy who took the more dominant role and reassured her everything would be okay. But the other part of him was just plain ole' confused, and a little mad that she just showed up at his doorstep, but was still able to convince him to drop everything to go. And the later part of him Gabriella was unfamiliar with. Before in high school he had to worry about basketball season and nothing else, but now he actually had to worry about his job, his house, the bills, the mail, and everything else a single person who lives by themselves has to worry about.

"What the fuck Brie?" He breathed out quietly so no one else could hear. "What are YOU doing on this plane? And don't give me that 'promise' bull crap. I know when you're lying." His voice was hard as his chin that held slight stubble on it was locked. His blue eyes were even more magnificent as the light blue shirt that he was wearing really brought out he tan in his skin.

A small smile tried to tug it's way onto Gabriella's face, but she couldn't for the life of her force it to stay. She blinked away tears as she let out a shaky breath. "Because he puts the cap back on the toothpaste."

"What?"

"He eats the same thing for breakfast every morning: toast. He drinks his coffee with all this cream and sugar and crap that takes away the coffee's natural flavor. Kyle just…he always turns the air conditioning down." Gabriella exclaimed as she cleared her face and put on a brave watery smile once again. "I'm here because I'm getting married in a week and I'm not nervous."

Troy gripped her hand that was resting on the tan arm rest.

Gabriella looked down at their conjoined hands and whispered fearfully, "I'm supposed to be nervous. All brides are supposed to be nervous."

He laced their fingers together as he squeezed her hand in reassurance. The first part of Troy was winning now as he had to think to himself, when was the last time he worried about someone else other than himself and Gabriella? Never. So why should he start to worry about Kyle Bar's feelings?

"You never used to put the cap back on the toothpaste. We used to go to that café back in high school and you'd order nearly one of everything off of the menu that we knew by heart. You'd drink your coffee black and when you'd think that I wasn't looking you'd take my coffee when yours was getting low. As for the air conditioning thing, everyone should know that you like to be cold--that is if you aren't busy in the bedroom. And as for you getting nervous, you never used to get nervous when we were kids." Troy rasped out.

Gabriella ripped her hand away from him. "Listen to yourself Troy! And I quote, _when we were kids_, I mean, what is that?! You're acting as if we're old folks who have been through so much."

"Well what do you want me to say? That you're throwing away your whole life before you even turn thirty. You're young Brie. You're still hot and always will be. You could have any guy in the world and you settle for _Kyle Bar_." Troy said with distaste. "We used to laugh at people who would marry with these huge wash out weddings. But I CAN'T be the guy to tell you that you're not making a mistake, because you are."

"You make it seem like it's my death wish."

"No. YOU make it seem like that. I'm just being realistic."

Troy glanced at Gabriella as she had her hand on the arm rest again. He sighed as her eyes were glossy once again, and it was then and there that he vowed silently that he wouldn't make her cry anymore than he had already.

He picked up her hand to lace their fingers together. "So…my life's going pretty good. I play for the Lakers in their starting line up. I'm missing a practice this week, but the Coach will live. And then I have a game next week. How's life for you?"

"I'm a contained person marrying Kyle because of the reassurance and stability he offers me. How great does that sound?" Her bitterness was seeping through.

* * *

He was amazed. Troy had been down to Mexico at least once a year ever since he turned seven years old. His family and him had either gone over Christmas break or Spring Break for a week. He always found it intriguing when he heard locals communicating with one another as their language just seemed to flow a lot easier and faster than plain boring English. When he was in high school then, he ended up taking all the Spanish classes that he could.

He never really liked to work that hard in school, but Spanish class was an exception. He had exceptions for almost everything he did, and he didn't know why, but he worked his ass off to make his way up to Spanish 5--the advance level that barely any kids made it too. In order for him to take it though, he had to double up in Junior year with his foreign language class so that he was one year ahead of everyone else. He didn't mind it, even though he complained about it with everyone else who took it because he just found it interesting to hear different words coming out of peoples' mouths.

So he and Gabriella went to the first hotel they could find whether it was beautiful or not, and they booked the cheapest room that held one king size bed. Troy told Gabriella that he remembered everything, and that included their conversation the morning after senior prom. He didn't need to ask her what kind of room they wanted, or if they were sharing beds because they had this trip planned for eight years now.

Back in high school they were two teenagers who had big plans ahead of themselves. They were carefree and selfish as they always seemed to stick together though. They had planned to go anywhere in the world to explore together. The plan was to find the first hotel they spotted and share a room with one bed in it. They would drink, they would party, they would celebrate their love together by fucking each other until the sun rose--Troy just didn't know if Gabriella remembered the last part.

The hotel that they first came to happened to be beautiful and right on a beach. The sun was shining like there was no tomorrow as various other tourists and locals were walking around the large hotel lobby. Gabriella stood up from her spot on the beige colored couch, still clad in her sexy looking red dress that made men of all ages turn their heads to stare at her. Troy even saw that out of the corner of his eye there was a married couple walking past, and the husband turned his head with his eyes bugging out in shock at how radiant Gabriella looked. His wife hit him in the chest with the magazine she was holding as a dark blush overtook his tan face.

Troy chuckled as he handed Gabriella the second room key. "We're on the fourth floor. Room 414."

"Did you request that number?" Gabriella asked as before she could bend down to capture her leather suit case Troy beat her to it.

It took him a moment before realizing that the last two digits in their room number was his basketball number from high school and the number he wore for the Lakers. "Nah. I may still remember Spanish, but you have to give me time to get in the zone to refresh my memory."

"Get in the zone?" Gabriella snorted ungraciously.

Troy had his duffel bag slung over his shoulder with Gabriella's suit case in the same hand. His other free hand landed on the small of Gabriella's back to guide her towards the expensive looking elevator. She flinched only momentarily before turning to give Troy a shaky smile.

He wasn't oblivious. He knew that when she was quiet she was thinking of Kyle because whenever he left her alone and she thought he wasn't looking, she would get this guilty look in her eye. He knew that Gabriella loved Kyle. Whether it was a strong lust filled love, or a love that she shares with someone who influences her life. Love was love, and Troy could only hope that this week that they were going to spend together would change that.

Troy Bolton was a selfish man. The one exception was if Gabriella Montez asked for something, then her wish would be granted.

Gabriella stared blankly out the window. It was getting to be around dinner time and it was just setting in that she wasn't in the U.S anymore. She was literally in Mexico with only one pair of clothes, all her credit cards, no cell phone, and a bathing suit. She had no toothbrushes, no hair brushes, but most importantly she didn't even think to leave a note saying that she wasn't taken by some creep so that Kyle wouldn't freak out when he returned home.

Kyle, with the dark brown eyes that turned black at times. Kyle, with the naturally charming personality. Kyle, with the temper that wasn't to be messed with. Kyle, with a soft side for kids as he was ready to settle. And at the time when he first proposed, Gabriella was ready for that. She was ready for the little girl who would have her curls, and the little boy who would take after his father's company. But somewhere along the line of their sixth month engagement Gabriella realized she wasn't cut out to be a mother yet.

Before Kyle she partied with her friends every weekend. She had a tattoo on her lower back. She WAS thinking of getting another one before Kyle had talked her out of it. She liked smoking every once in a while when things got too stressful. But everything changed when Kyle and her started to get serious. He changed her, and now Gabriella was convincing herself that she wasn't ready for kids or the married life.

But yet a part of her had to think of her future. She did love Kyle, and she knew that if she did stay with him her future was safe. She would have at least some control over most situations as they would go through the same routines over and over again. Plus, every one of her friends liked Kyle and her mother valued him like her own son. She never was a big fan of her other boyfriends--including Troy.

"I've never seen you this quiet before." Troy whispered sexily as he wrapped his bare arms from around Gabriella; pulling her back into his bare chest. He had just gotten done with his shower. "The shower's free Brie." Troy's nose nuzzled into her soft curls.

"Okay. How about I shower and you go find some beer? I'm sick of the stuff in the mini fridge." Gabriella turned around in Troy's warm embrace. He nodded his head as their bodies were flushed against one another.

Troy glanced over Gabriella's head and onto the bed where a pack of cigarettes were and two empty bottles of mini beer that were originally from the fridge. "I see you still smoke?"

"Only occasionally. Like when I need a release and I'm all alone." Gabriella spoke quietly before deciding that the room was getting too warm for her liking. "I'm gonna go shower."

Gabriella sidestepped Troy and grabbed one of the many white towels that were folded neatly on the metal rack hanging on the wall opposite of the bathroom door. "And if you happen to find a store when you get the liquor, maybe you can pick up some extra clothes, or at least some until we can go shopping tomorrow."

Troy smirked at Gabriella. "Absolutely."

After all, Troy hadn't been lingerie shopping for a women since they were in college.

Gabriella smiled genuinely. "Thanks."

* * *

"I haven't had tacos in forever." Gabriella plopped down on the bed as the creamy yellow walls surrounded her in the hotel room. "I forgot how good minute made tacos tasted."

Troy chuckled as he had already stripped down to just his boxers and plopped down on the bed next to Gabriella. "When was the last time? You used to live off of them."

Gabriella thought about it as she brought her hands up behind her head to cradle her brown curls while laying down. The black lacy singlet Troy picked out for her cradling her curves in all the right places. "I don't know. It must have been back in college."

Troy pounded his pillow briefly before laying his head down on it. He was laying on his side facing Gabriella who was also laying on her small side. Her thin black singlet showed off her cleavage while she was laying down. He had longed the day that they would be close again, and now he would have her all to himself for a whole week.

"You haven't changed at all." He whispered as his warm fingers reached out and touched a lone freckly on her left shoulder. "How is it that we lived in the same city and never contacted each other?"

Gabriella sighed as she pulled one thin sheet over her body. "I don't know. After I moved from New York to LA I think we were just both busy with our lives. We grew apart from each other."

They both stared at each other. Both with their own looks of pleasure floating through their eyes.

"So tomorrow I thought we could go scuba diving. It's something that I think you'd enjoy." Troy said.

Gabriella's eyes sparkled with enjoyment. "Really? Let's do it. I've never gone before. Oh!" she squealed, "Then the next day there's these hiking trails that we can go through. The shortest one around here is like five miles or we can do the longer one and do like fifteen. What do you say?"

"How can I refuse you when you sound so excited?" Troy joked. "Of course I want to go. Who knows what trouble we can get into?"

"Troy, we're not in high school. We can't blame us breaking the rules on our age and how teenagers are supposed to get in trouble."

"Brie," Troy cooed as his hand ran up her bare arm, grazing the spaghetti strap of her singlet, before cupping her cheek softly. "You wanted to get away and be like we were in the past. I know that I haven't changed at all, but you have, and this trip is all about you going back in time and remembering how to have fun. So don't worry about following the rules." Troy pressed a kiss to Gabriella's forehead. "We never did before." Troy let his lips linger near Gabriella's plump ones before their eyes connected once more.

"You're right. I don't know why I'm thinking way too much into this." Gabriella resigned.

"It's okay." He looked down at her inviting lips before closing his eyes slowly and pressing his mouth onto hers. Gabriella didn't respond at first as it took a couple of seconds of his mouth massaging hers to make her move, but when she did they both felt the sparks that they would get throughout half their college and high school life.

"Goodnight Brie." Troy whispered once he pulled back.

"Night Troy."

It was an innocent kiss shared between two ex-lovers who were passed small kisses on the cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're not contained." His voice was low as his dark blue eyes skimmed over her body that only seemed to improve over the years.

Gabriella sat up a little as she was leaning back on her elbows. They had just gotten done with the nature hike and had stripped off their clothes to only be wearing one of the many swimsuits they had each bought the previous day before. "What?"

"You said on the plane that you were contained, but you're not." Troy spoke deeply as his body was so close to her own. "You're uncontainable. Strong. Desirable. Sexy. Crazy." Troy listed with a slight chuckle at the end.

Gabriella's eyes sparkled with joy as she faced him. "Do you ever wish we were in high school again?"

Troy didn't hesitate.

"Always. What about you?"

"Certain days I would want to relive." Gabriella admitted.

"Which ones?"

"All the ones that you and I spent time together." Gabriella smiled cheekily at Troy who sat up and smoothly swung one of his legs over her; straddling her so that she couldn't move.

Troy's eyes stared down into her own. "I'm not a liar Brie, and I think we both know that I don't like to beat around the bush." Gabriella's body was stiff as she wanted to hear each word Troy spoke carefully. "I still think back to the day we broke up. It's not just the sex that I crave for, but there's only one thing I regret in life…and that's letting you walk away."

"Troy," Gabriella whispered as her small hand reached up and cupped the side of his face. She felt as if she were her teenage self falling in love all over again. "If we wouldn't have broken up, do you think we would've been engaged by now?"

"No." He answered without even thinking about. "We both know that even though we love each other, we're not the marrying type. We both had dreams in high school, and if we were still together and happy with our relationship, then why would we need a ring and a piece of paper saying that you were mine and vice versa? I had already bought you various other kind of jewelry, and we already claimed each other as our own years ago."

"You said love. As in present tense." Gabriella pointed out completely missing the other end of Troy's mini speech. "Troy…Wildcat…it's loved. Past tense."

Troy shook his head as he pressed a kiss to Gabriella's forehead--something he had been doing a lot in the past day and a half. "No. You believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want. Because either way, we both have a fifty/fifty chance of being wrong."

Gabriella giggled as Troy always seemed to put a negative side onto everything he talked about. "God I missed you."

* * *

Troy was tired.

He was tired of always having to initiate things between them. He was the one to kiss her goodnight. He was the one to kiss her on the forehead, cheeks, and corner of the mouth. Sure, Gabriella had been the one to throw rocks at his window and offered him a chance to go down to Panama, but now it just seemed as if she wasn't trying.

They were walking on the beach right before sundown now. They were planning on going into town to one of the many clubs that they had heard about from other tourists who were around their age. Gabriella looked at Troy from her side vision and gave a sad smile as she knew that he was getting impatient and was probably regretting this trip.

Her thin white dress was loose on top as it cut down in a V shape. It bunched at the waist to flow outwards to reach her knees. She wore bangles on her arm and a shell necklace Troy bought her around her neck. She didn't know it at the time, but that was Troy's innocent way of marking her. Their hands were joined as they were both bare foot.

Troy caught Gabriella's small glance and smiled widely at her. He had no t-shirt on as his muscles that were from basketball stood out even more with his tan in the low setting sun. He was wearing gray boxers that were low on his body; his dark charcoal shorts sat even lower on his waist with a loose belt holding them up.

Troy wasn't only tired of being friends with an engaged person, but he was in love with her still. He couldn't help but notice all the stares he was getting from boys between the ages of 13 to 30. They were all jealous of the sexy brunette that was attached at his hip the last couple of days, but that just brought up a new set of problems. He only had a set limited amount of days with her when Kyle Bar would get Gabriella for his whole life now. It wasn't fair. She had been Troy's. He was still Gabriella's. They claimed each other when they were eighteen, and now Kyle was taking away his world that he never knew he still had until three days ago. He should get more time with her, after all, Troy does love her.

But that love he still feels for her doesn't replace the feeling that he gets whenever they have contact with each other. He needed to know that when they are together that she feels what he's feeling. That she wants to kiss him as much as he wants to kiss her because if she didn't, then that just proves that she was just letting him willingly kiss her so that she doesn't hurt his feelings.

"Now who's the quiet one?" Gabriella mused lightly as she gave his hand a slight squeeze to pull him out of his thoughts.

"I'm always quiet." Troy declared even though they both knew that he was lying. He stopped walking which created a domino effect and made Gabriella stop as well. He was looking at her as he was going to get some answers. His hand reached out and played with one of her many curls that looked so exotic right now as each curl looked specifically placed on her head. Her bangs that just came down to her eye brows shifted to the side as the wind picked up a little.

"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked as her fears of Troy regretting this trip kicked in again.

He looked down at their hands that were connected and stared blankly at the diamond engagement ring that sat snugly on her finger. He bit his lip in distaste while running his thumb slowly over it. "That's a large rock."

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed slowly as her other hand cupped Troy's chin and lightly lifted his face so that he was looking down at her face rather than her ring. "Kyle said he had it specially made."

Troy narrowed his eyes as they both felt his body tense up a little in quiet anger. "The ring doesn't fit with you."

"What?" She whispered as her insides churned a little at what she thought he was hinting at.

Troy sighed with heavy frustration. "I'll put it this way: If you were a puzzle with that ring, then the pieces wouldn't fit together."

"Troy--"

"It's expensive. It's fucking huge. It draws attention. He claimed you as his, and that's the only thing that I could ever agree with him on. He wants the whole world to know that you're marrying him; he would be stupid if he didn't, but…this ring isn't you." Troy looked carefully into Gabriella's eyes that were slowly turning a dark shaded color. He bit his lip as his hesitant fingers slowly removed the ring on her small finger. Gabriella's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't object as she was too stunned to move.

Her legs felt like jell-o as her eyes didn't dare leave Troy's. It was wrong to have flown to Panama. It was wrong to be sharing a bed with Troy Bolton the LA Lakers star. It was wrong to be holding hands with him on that beach. It was most definitely wrong letting him take her engagement ring, but yet, she wasn't scared as she trusted him with her life.

"We're not in high school Troy. Things changed." Gabriella stuttered out quietly as they both heard the lie in her voice.

"Not you. This isn't what you wanted Brie." Troy told her callously as he wrapped his rough arms around her and pulled her into his bare chest. "You want something elegant, but simple. Almost normal, but you could never be normal so you need something in the ring that will stand out just a little bit to people. I know that you didn't want a diamond." Troy spoke so closely to her ear that if people would walk past them, then they would think that they were having a romantic moment. "You were never high class as if you had it your way, you'd probably elope to get the wedding over and done with."

"I think you're crazy for knowing this." Gabriella mumbled into his chest; cooling his skin and making his body tremble with desire.

"If I were you, I'd get rid of the ring." He smirked as Gabriella's head shot up with her mouth wide open in shock and surprise.

"I can't." Her eyes were nearly falling out of their sockets. Her breathing slowed as an unpleasant feeling settled in her stomach.

"And why not Sweetheart?" He cooed as his eyes narrowed even more; challenging her to admit the truth just for his benefits that were against him.

"Because…"

He pressed his lips to her burning forehead and shut his eyes painfully. He needed answers, and as he fingered his one true love's engagement ring in his hand, he knew that the truth was going to hurt him.

"Because why Brie?" He rasped out.

"Because I'm still going to marry Kyle!" Gabriella exclaimed in naked truth. She hated Troy in that moment for making her admit it out loud. She wanted to push that thought to the back of her mind until the last possible moment before the wedding actually took place.

She ripped her small arms out of Troy's grasp and took a couple of steps back. "God Troy!" She shouted. "Why does it matter to you?! We're having fun, aren't we?!" She waited for his answer as they both gave off a ferocious glare. "Fine," Gabriella snapped, "I guess it's my fault for thinking we were both on the same wave length. My fucking mistake."

Gabriella started walking away towards the hotel before Troy started after her exactly five seconds later. He took long strides to catch up before grabbing her upper arm to make her halt.

"Yeah, it is your fault! It's your fault that we're in Panama! It's your fault that you're living a lie with _Kyle Bar_. It's your fault that you can't see what's damn well in front of you! It's ALL your fault Brie!" Troy roared. When he was done yelling he was panting as if he just finished a practice for basketball. His eyes were pooling into Gabriella's as she was struck with even more shock. She couldn't even bother moving her arm out of his firm grasp.

"What happened to us Troy?" Gabriella whispered. "We've been here only three days, and our time is running up."

"No. You're time is running up. Mine is just beginning again." Troy saw the confusion pass through her blurry eyes filled with unshed tears. "God Brie," Troy wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "You make me crazy sometimes. I'm just--"

"Don't apologize Troy. I don't think I've ever heard you apologize before, so don't start now."

Troy chuckled as his fingers played with little wisps of her hair. "I wasn't going to apologize Brie. I'm just confused."

"That makes two of us." She admitted sadly.

* * *

Five days had past. They had two nights in Panama together, one day, and then after the second night they had a plane to catch at 9 in the morning. They then would separate as there would be one day before the wedding. After the day on the beach, the third day together, they returned every free chance they got as it was mostly at night time. They would lay on a blanket and watch the stars that would shine so bright.

The light waves splashed up on the shoreline as it was just like old times. Troy would wrap his arms around her as he would also point up at the sky and make up names of stars on the tip of his tongue. Gabriella would laugh and make fun of Troy who would roll his eyes before turning them over so that he was straddling her and tickle her to death.

Troy's mind would block out his life back in the U.S, the countless girls he dated to replace Gabriella in his mind, and his career that was already taking off. He should have been regretting not telling Chad where he was headed off too, but he wasn't as basketball and Chad were the furthest thing from Troy's line of vision.

Instead, he was busy watching with amusement Gabriella's backside as he was three steps behind her. They were just getting in from laying on the beach and swimming. Her hair was drying already as her long tendrils were still curly down her backside and front. Her white swimsuit covering her body to his liking clung to her skin as her olive skin glistened.

Gabriella turned her head as she felt his gaze running over her body. She knew what they both were doing. They were pushing the thoughts of leaving each other again to the back of their minds. Technically their flight left in 37 hours, but their minds were already home as they had to force the unsettling feelings out of their minds and bodies.

"I think you got sand in my swimsuit." Gabriella complained with a light tone as they walked into their hotel room.

Troy laughed as he slung the wet towel that they had brought with them to the ground near the door. He turned his shirtless body towards her with a charming smile he knew made other girls weak in the knees, but not Gabriella, or at least she didn't show it.

"You still look sexy though. I can't believe that one _kid_ tried to buy you a drink. And a smoothie out of everything else on the drink menu to the bar!" Troy chuckled some more as Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Troy, do you know that you happen to sound threatened by a 17 year old boy who was trying to impress his friends by showing off that he could chat up a woman?" Her voice was pointed as she leaned against the closed bathroom door; facing Troy who was leaning against the wall opposite of her. His head just coming shy of hitting the metal rack that had new towels situated on it.

"I don't care because as of right now, he's probably moping about you turning him down after accepting his drink."

"Hey!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I was trying to make him feel like he was making progress, and then you came over with margaritas…" Gabriella trailed off slightly as her eyes looked up and were stunned by Troy's intense gaze. "And…and…really, really good alcohol." She finished stupidly.

Troy shrugged his broad shoulders. "You were mine to begin with and I'd be stupid to let you go." He froze when he realized the words that came out of his mouth. Gabriella's wide eyes were enough to tell him that she was on the verge of blushing like a mad tomato. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So I'm going to go take a shower." Gabriella's arms flailed behind herself to indicate the bathroom door. "You know, to get the sand off of me."

"Yeah…" Troy's voice trailed off as Gabriella shuffled into the bathroom and shut the door, but he noticed something as his eyes stayed on the door handle.

The lock didn't click.

Gabriella's string bikini was shed to the ground as she stepped into the steaming water of the shower. Her dark curls becoming even darker as the water got caught in her hair. She was grabbing for the shampoo when she thought she heard the door click open. She froze in her spot and craned her neck forward as if to see past the steamy glass door. She sighed as she thought it was a false alarm, but then she nearly dropped the bottle in surprise again as there was another 'thump' sound. Gabriella delicately put the shampoo bottle back on the little built in shelf so that she could open the sliding glass door, but nearly jumped out of her skin as two warm arms encircled her body from behind.

"Shh." Troy cooed softly as his arms were situated right underneath her heaving breasts. "It's just me."

"What are you doing in here?" Gabriella hissed.

"I needed to shower too." His simple reply came as he guided Gabriella's numb body forward slightly so that it was him who received the water from the shower head.

His hands just didn't stay still though as the warm atmosphere around them added to the sensuality of the situation. Troy knew that when Gabriella told him about the trip to Panama, she didn't mean to sleep with him and cheat on Kyle. A stolen kiss or two wasn't a big deal because everyone kisses. And if they're just friends, then it shouldn't be a big deal, so Gabriella continued to let Troy assault her body with his moist lips, but when his hands began to roam in the shower, that was a whole new ball game.

"Troy," Gabriella spoke softly as one of his hands were gripping her tightly on her hip and the other was stroking the side of her body; making his knuckles ghost across her breast.

"I know you're feeling guilty." Troy's perfect voice spoke softly next to her ear. He spun their bodies around so that his back was being splashed with the hot liquid and Gabriella had her back to the white wall. She almost stumbled on the slippery surface of the tub if Troy's hand didn't still have it's hold on her hip. "But yet, in your eyes, there's excitement. You're thriving with adrenaline."

Troy's lips neared Gabriella's as he pressed her back against the cold wall. Her mouth fell open in shock as she had no idea what was happening.

"You don't looked ashamed either. It's just you and me baby." He breathed on her before he lifted her chin with his two fingers to kiss her possessively.

Gabriella was shocked to say the least. In less than a week she was marrying another man. She loved Kyle, and she always will as they were in love before. He thought he knew her inside and out, but Gabriella never really let him see her other side; the other side that was always brought out of her whenever Troy was around. The side that loved to play on the borderline of safe and dangerous. Because with Kyle, he was nice, sweet, caring, and a business man. He knew how to act in public, he knew how to command other people to get things done, but with Troy he was unpredictable, and Gabriella missed that.

Her mouth moved against his in a timed dance. It seemed that every second between the two was timed, and the clock was ticking down quickly.

The moment that Gabriella walked into the bathroom was the moment that Troy decided to try to do something about their 'friendship'. It was impossible for him to let her go, and she was going to know that. He had stepped quietly as possible into the bathroom; only to be met with the outline of Gabriella's perfect body. He could make out all the curves on her body. Just thinking about her made his member harden.

"Troy," Gabriella moaned deep within her throat as his teeth sank into her soft skin on her neck.

He was past gentle. He was on a mission to claim her as his again. Troy's fingers raked down her body and gripped tightly to her lower waist to pull her closer. He heard her let out a little yelp of surprise and shock from his movements, but she didn't complain as she pressed her body against his willingly and connected their mouths again.

Gabriella wasn't oblivious to Troy's erection pressing up against her thigh. Just feeling his naked body pressed up against her own flush one was enough to make the dampness between her legs even wetter. She wanted him, and she was willing to greedily forget Kyle for that one night and spend it with Troy--ALL of Troy.

"Troy," Gabriella gasped as her back was thrust up and into the shower's wall again so that Troy could get a better grip on her. He tightly picked her up with his two hands so that she could wrap her legs around his sleek waist, "the bed."

"Right," Troy murmured to himself, "the bed. I can do that." He looked at Gabriella with dark blue eyes. His were clouded over with lust and passion as he glided the shower door open without breaking eye contact with Gabriella. His hand reached out as if in a memorized dance to turn off the water before closing the shower glass door behind them.

Gabriella would never really know how many bruises she got that night as Troy slammed her ontop of the bathroom counter; unable to wait the few seconds it would take to make it to the bed in the hotel room. She panted as their tongues dueled in a dance that was almost foreign to them.

When the need for oxygen became a problem they ripped their mouths away from each other. Gabriella ran her plump tongue over her bottom lip and Troy let out a low growl of approval.

"God Brie," he nipped at her earlobe, "you drive me crazy."

"You ARE crazy Troy." Gabriella whispered in his ear. She couldn't wait much longer as she bucked her hips to make Troy continue their way into their bedroom. Troy moaned at the feelings Gabriella evoked within him. He hadn't felt this good since their last time together.

He scooped her up into his arms once again as their damp bodies clung to one another. Her one hand knotting itself into his hair while the other gripped ferociously to the back of his neck. She kept her eyes closed throughout the kiss until she felt his sharp teeth tug on her lower lip.

He lowered her body so that she could stand by herself. They were still five feet away from the bed, but Troy needed to tell her something before they continued. It was only fair for her to know what was on his mind.

"Brie, I need you." He whispered erotically. His large hands latching onto her burning waist. "I can't stop thinking about you. About us. I WON'T stop." He hissed the last part as Gabriella's small hand trailed down from his right nipple to his chiseled abs, only to land at his hairline.

Just looking at her made him hard. But now that he got to taste her mouth again, that he got to touch her, and that he got to caress her, he was more than hard. He was in love, and he was going to tell her that.

"Then don't." Gabriella whispered as she looked up at him from underneath her long lashes. She softly stroked her hand over his erection--making Troy's eyes go wide from shock of her words, and pleasure from her hand movement--and then before Troy knew it, he was pushed backwards.

Gabriella's hands collided with his two shoulders. She watched Troy stumble back towards the bed before taking two quick strides to reach him. She straddled him on the bed. Their eyes never leaving one anothers.

Their mouths met again. Troy maneuvering them around so that Gabriella was laying on her back with her head slightly propped up by the pillows. His hands made their way to her breasts. "I've missed you so much." Troy rasped out.

"I know," Gabriella agreed as that was all she could say with the feelings Troy was creating in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't wait much longer as she felt Troy's tongue flick her nipple to tease her.

She couldn't think clearly as she knew back in the shower that Troy had her trapped and he knew it. She knew that he knew that he would win because he always did. She had no chance whatsoever when he stepped into the shower and bared his all to her. And it was possible that in her mind, she wished for this to happen sooner.

"I want you Troy." She cried out in desperation. "Please…now…"

Troy brought his head up from her chest to look around the room to locate his wallet that held a foil packet. He spotted his crumpled jeans near the end of the bed, and when he went to lean over to grab them, Gabriella's warm hand folded over him to stop his movements.

"Don't." She told him as he looked at her curiously. "I want ALL of you. I want to feel ALL of you."

That was all it took for him to lose the ounce of sanity that he had left.

He was stupid when he let her go. He was the one to propose to break up because of the distance, and he was stupid. But she didn't fight him when he suggested it. They had years to make up for, and it was in that moment that he realized something again.

He was okay with his life. He had an awesome job that any man would dream of having. He had no problem finding dates if he needed them. He had the money and the high life. But being in Gabriella's embrace beat any day that he lived without her. He knew she was the one for him.

"Troy," Gabriella purred softly. "Please, just…I need you right now."

He would do anything for her.

His fingers danced along her petite stomach and crawled their way to her sleek folds. He could feel her wetness as she moaned to his touch.

"Brie," Troy panted. His hands spread her thighs as his head was in the perfect place to latch onto her heaving breasts. He was taking the dominant role, and Gabriella was letting him.

They were in position now. His body hovering over hers slightly while his arms were on either side of her; caging her in. It was in this moment that the two took the time to fully appreciate the other.

Gabriella's eyes slowly moved down Troy's body; taking in every detail. He still looked like the same Troy from high school, except his muscles were more defined and slightly bigger, his skin was tanner due to the LA sun, and his dark blue eyes were glazed over with ice. But she still recognized him, and that made her crave him more.

He was known as this powerful man. Kids worshipped him. He had various sport posters out with his face on them. The paparazzi followed him like he was the only one in the world. It amazed him that he was able to escape to Panama without anyone following him. The moment that Troy entered Gabriella was the moment his whole world came crashing down around him, and his thoughts contained nothing except Gabriella Montez.

He remembered everything about her as the filing cabinet he kept in his mind about her was reopened and scattered about in his mind. He never truly realized how much he missed her until their bodies became one. He had let the love of his life just walk out of his life, and it killed him just thinking about it. He had put up a charade in front of everyone. He had told Gabriella that he remembered everything, but that was a lie. He forgot that she had a freckle underneath her chin, that her eyes nearly turned black when making love, or that she had a mini scar on the underside of her upper arm.

He had missed out on a lot as he took Gabriella coming back into his life willingly as a sign. It was a sign that he still had a chance, unless Gabriella was only here because she wanted one last hoorah before she got married.

"Tell me that you love me." Troy rasped out as he was unfamiliar with the feelings swirling around inside of him. He had never been jealous of another guy before. Even when Gabriella first came to East High in her junior year, he was the first one to talk to her. After that, almost everyone knew that he had silently marked her as his until he managed to come up with enough courage to ask her out. Their relationship came naturally, and they only had minor bumps to overcome. But he was never the jealous guy as everyone at East High knew enough to just stay clear of trying to pursue a relationship with Gabriella.

He moved inside of her. Her legs instantly wrapping themselves around his torso to pull him closer. She looked up at his face and swore she saw little tears collecting in Troy's eyes. She had only seen Troy cry once, and that time was hardly crying as he had small tears running down his face. There was no sobbing, no sniffling, and no shaking as this one time was only during their break up in college. It made no sense to Gabriella why he would now of all times, but it scared her a little.

She wasn't scared of Troy. But she was scared of the fact that whatever was making him act like this had such an effect over him.

"Troy…I…" She could barely form words with him still pumping inside of her.

"Say it Brie…please," He added softly as his face was buried in the crook of her neck now. "Tell me and everything will be okay."

His tough guy act that he shows the nation was cracking, and it was all just because of one girl.

"I love you." She gasped out when his hips bucked even harder against her own. Troy could have asked her to do anything in that moment and she would have.

Troy kissed up her neck, across her jaw line, and finally landed on her lips. Little beads of sweat started forming on their skin. The room seemed five times hotter than what it really was.

In between kisses Troy managed to continuously pump into her harder and faster. Desperation was running through his veins. "I'm sorry Brie…so sorry."

He apologized for the first time in many years.

"Fuck Troy," Gabriella moaned from pleasure. Her hand delicately reached up and shook lightly against his cheek before running down the smooth skin. "I've missed you…don't apologize…please," she begged desperately.

Their bodies melted together as Troy's body grinded it's imprint into her skin. Their sweat mixed while their foreheads rested against one another's. His thrusting seemed to be getting faster and faster, and Gabriella knew that he was close to his release.

"Come on Troy," she whispered in his ear as her hands were frantically gripping his shoulders to relieve the yell of pleasure wanting to come out of her mouth. "I'm almost there."

It seemed like it had been a lifetime ago since they had last connected sexually, and now it was like all their dreams coming true in one moment of time.

--

Their bodies were tangled as both chests rose and fell harshly. Their ragged breathing styles filling the room with their pants. His arm was around Gabriella's warm shoulders, pulling her into his body as her curls coated his sticky chest with her head laying right directly over his left nipple.

Her body was tense and Troy could feel it. But this tenseness in her petite frame wasn't something he could take care of, and he knew it. He hated God for causing this problem between them, and that he couldn't take care of it for her.

"Tell me what you're feeling Brie." He demanded softly as he couldn't keep his hands off of her. His one hand that wasn't wrapped around her to make sure that she wouldn't even think about leaving his side was running softly up and down her forearm.

The cool sheet was drawn up so that it was modestly covering her breasts and half of his waist. Both sets of hair looked as if they had just got fucking each other, and in ways that was correct, but it was something more. It was more than just sex to them, it was just a matter of time for one of them to admit it.

"I'm feeling like I just got done racing the biggest track event yet." She picked up his large hand and placed it over her heart as she could already hear his heart pounding through his tan skin. "Can you feel it? This is what you make me feel."

"Where does this leave us?" He rasped out as he left his hand over her heart that was beating for two people now: him and Kyle.

"Kyle can never know. No one can ever know," she whispered as he growled with disapproval.

His strong hand gripped her forearm and made her twist sideways to look up at him. She yelped a little in surprise and shock that he was this forceful. She looked up at his dark eyes and almost coward back from the intensity of them.

"Listen to me Brie, because I'm only going to say this once," he grounded out through clenched teeth. "You haven't changed since high school. You've merely been on a vacation as I see the real you."

His hand reached out and pushed a curl behind her ear. No matter how hard or fearful his voice was, he still managed to show his weak side to her. "You're making a mistake as you think that you have to settle down now? You're young. WE'RE young. We can do anything we want, we can be anything we want."

He started off strong, but just looking down at her and her wide eyes of fear was enough to crack him. Instead of letting her see him like this, he pulled her close so that her head was buried into the crook of his neck. He took his time to even out his harsh breathing by letting his senses pick up Gabriella's sweet scent. Her fragrance assaulting his smell.

"I can't understand how you can throw everything away with this guy. I just…tell my why. Explain to me and I'll stop bugging you. I'll stop loving you if you can tell me why you're with him." Troy's voice cracked at the end as his arms tightened around her small bones.

Gabriella didn't hesitate in her answer as her brown eyes met his blue. "Because he loves me."

She saw it pass through his eyes. The primal instinct of possession coarse through his body like a wild animal. His hands that were gripping her tightened just a little bit more, and his short nails dug into her skin.

She was flipped over on the bed so that her back laid flat on the mattress. The headboard belonging to the bed rattled against the wall, making the cheesy picture of a sailboat shake dangerously on it's hook.

His body was covering hers as his hands that were digging themselves into her upper arms held his body up with his strength that only increased over the years. She could smell his musky scent mixed with the smell of sex and the shower gel that the hotel provided. His hair was clumped together with the saltiness of his sweat.

"Like hell he does," Troy hissed with venom. "No one loves you like I do."

"Troy, I--"

"Does he hold you when you're tired? Does he know every inch of your body? Does he know that you always shiver when I touch you right here?" Troy's eyes never left hers as he dipped his body lower and his tongue skimmed around the edge of her belly button before dipping in; claiming her body as his own.

Gabriella's body shook as she tried to roll out from underneath Troy. Her cries of protest were beat down with her moan of pleasure. Troy's thighs that were straddling Gabriella's lower body clamped down around her to stop her legs from flailing out.

Gabriella knew that Troy would never hurt her, but the way that he was taking control, she couldn't help but know how this was her fault. She had wanted Troy to take control, and she should've known that he never held back.

"Does he love you like I do?"

"You don't love me Troy," Gabriella rasped out. "You love the idea of me. I've heard the stories and seen the papers that show you and your little eye candies. You have a new girl every month." Gabriella pointed out as she had to force it through her mind that what they were feeling was just lust.

"I find it funny then that you still let me inside of you." Troy nipped at her ear. "You know, he might love you, but don't think that I'm going to leave you alone. Now that you contacted me, I'm not going to let you go this time around."

"You're scaring me Troy," Gabriella whimpered as her body was deceiving her and craving for his touch. Her hands traced up his sturdy arm that had veins showing from his muscles. "You're really scaring me."

"Leave Kyle behind. Let me be your future. I can offer you anything you crave for. You want a big wedding? I can give you that. You want a fancy ring? I can drive to the jewelers. If you absolutely want kids? Then I can't wait to see little girls running around with your looks. I can do anything for you. I WILL do anything for you," Troy hissed out with promise.

Gabriella snorted ungracefully. "You know I don't want a big wedding, and you don't want kids. You're in the middle of your career and…it's crazy even thinking about this Troy! I'm with Kyle. He loves me."

"But yet we're in Panama with you naked underneath me. Just face it Sweetheart, you're going to be crawling back to me after your marriage fails. Kyle's going to fail, and when you feel rejected, you're going to be right back in my bed."

Gabriella didn't know where this sudden anger came from, but her hand cranked back and slapped Troy's cheek. His head turned as he opened his mouth to stretch out his sore jaw. His cheek was turning a deep shade of red and it wasn't from embarrassment.

"Jesus fuck Brie! Where did you learn to hit like that?" Troy cursed as he dared to turn his head back around. His right hand reached up to gingerly trace the sure to be bruise on his cheek.

"You're forgetting that we were separated during college. I didn't have your protection anymore. My roommate and I took defense classes."

"And they taught you how to slap?!"

Gabriella raised her chin before quipping, "Well…no. But I got stronger, and I've stayed in shape since then."

"You were never big Brie." Troy murmured as it seemed as if all their problems were swept under the rug. Troy was still above Gabriella, but neither had anger etched into their bones.

"I still needed to know how to protect myself. A girl can never be too careful."

He didn't know if it was how ridiculous they looked and sounded, or just how much time he's spent with her in the past couple of days, but his guards that he put up after they broke up were slowly coming down as he spoke with honesty.

"I've missed you Brie."

Gabriella smiled up at Troy. "I've missed you too."

A yawn made it's way out of Gabriella's mouth. Troy chuckled as Gabriella blushed a little. He rolled off of her and opened his arms so that Gabriella could snuggle into him.

"And now it's time for sleep," he declared as his fingers went straight for her hair to smooth it out.

"Mmm," Gabriella agreed groggily. It wasn't until she let her head rest against Troy's strong chest that she realized just how tired she actually was. Her eyes drooped closed right when Troy's mouth pressed itself to her cold forehead.

"You know," Troy mused in a whisper, "in high school we said that we wouldn't marry because of how cheesy everyone made it out to be."

"Hmm."

He pressed another soft kiss to her head. No matter how much he hated Kyle, he had to admire him, because if he had managed to get Gabriella to settle down, then he must be good at persuading people. But Troy had to keep reminding himself that he hadn't seen Gabriella in person for five years. They lived on opposite sides of the country for three years before she finally moved to LA, just like they planned on her doing.

She just winded up with the wrong man.

But five years was a long time to young people. A lot of things could change, and if he thought about it hard enough, then he could let the truth of reality sink in, and it hurt. There must have been a God, however, as having Gabriella in his arms was a second chance. She was convinced that she was ready to move on with another man, and now at the very last moment possible, he was given a second chance.

"With the way you described the wedding plans yesterday, I think it sounds kind of fun. Of course, you can never tell Chad I said that, or any other human, but…it doesn't sound so scary. It's like planning a giant party, and God knows how many parties we hosted at my house in high school. You know, right now? I feel like we're the only two in the world. You feel it too, right?"

There was no answer as he looked down at the brunette beauty and saw that her breathing was even as she slept in his arms.

He smiled as he pressed one last kiss to her head.

"My Brie...God how I love you."


End file.
